Etymograph

English

ming

Ming comes from Old English mengan ‘to mix, combine, unite, associate with,…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *menk- ‘to rumple, knead’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*menk-1‘to rumple, knead’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mangijan1‘to mix, knead’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150mengan1‘to mix, combine, unite, associate with, consort, cohabit with, disturb, converse’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mingen1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1562ming1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English ming
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1562, William Turner: “I founde here and there litle peces of marquesites…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*menk-Wiktionary, English ming‘to rumple, knead’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mangijanWiktionary, English ming‘to mix, knead’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150menganWiktionary, English ming‘to mix, combine, unite, associate with, consort, cohabit with, disturb, converse’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mingenWiktionary, English ming
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1562mingWiktionary, English ming. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1562, William Turner: “I founde here and there litle peces of marquesites…”

Linked words

through Old English mengan ‘to mix, combine, unite, associate with,…’

mang, 3 more

Another origin of ming

  1. Chinesemodern命mìng‘destiny, fate’
  2. Englishtodayming

Today it means

verb To mix, blend, mingle.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ming”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *menk- / ming

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